Best Cabin Camping near Kinston, NC

I have a personal pull to Goose Creek State Park as it was once my family’s land going back generations and generations. My great-grandfather, grandfather, and father carved out the trails used for hiking today and the road to the campground its self was made by my dad and his friends. The state bought the land in the 70’s and it became our state park. It makes me proud to share a part of my family history with the rest of the world.

Even without the personal connection I feel when I visit GCSP, it’s such a beautiful place to be during anytime of the year. Hiking trails equipped with boardwalks lead through the marsh and swampy areas while sporadic signs display pictures and information about the wildlife you are likely to see. The primitive campground has more than 10 sites, with the farthest sights sitting on the edge of the Pamlico River. It truly is an awesome sight to take in at sunset and sunrise. Bath houses with showers, hot water, and toilets are available. There are two group sites and, recently added, several rv sites and about 5-6 small cabins. I have not stayed in the cabins yet. They seem to be fairly popular so reservations should be made at least a couple of weeks in advanced. There heat and AC but no bathrooms or kitchen area inside the cabin. I believe there are two sets of twin beds and a full bed but you have to bring your own linens. There is also a very nice bathhouse available for cabin renters. The only downside to the cabins and RV sites is there is no shade. The sites are toward the front of the park, and, perhaps because of the recent construction, there is are no trees, woods, or shade around. As a personal preference, I want to be IN THE WOODS when I camp so the aspect of being out in the open is not as exciting as tent camping. That being said, the cabins are adorable and have a fire ring, picnic table, and everything you need to enjoy a night of camping.

Booked a tent site and later a cabin as well since we were unsure about the weather. The tent sites were nicely situated and far apart from each other. The vault toilet was very clean. The site is peaceful and since the weather was pretty bad, it was quiet and only a few sites were occupied. 

The cabins are new and clean, with AC/heat and electricity and a nice outdoor setup with a grill and fire pit aside each one. They are located in the cleared RV park, not the woods, so don't expect to feel like you are staying in nature if you book a cabin. The shower facilities are very nice too. Overall, cabins are a great option if the weather is bad or you don't want to stay in a tent. 

Plan for bugs - ticks and mosquitoes are a given in the summer. Also, the swimming beach is closed as of May 2020.

I have camped in this state park several times, including with the Boy Scouts. Other than the park itself, I really enjoyed the camaraderie when our Scout troop and another Scout troop that was camping were playing“Capture the Flag.” I say all of this because it is a great place for group camping. However, it also has conventional camping and cabins. When I first started camping at Cliffs of the Neuse, it did not have more than a mile of trails. Now it has added some more trails. It also did not have showers or cabins in times past. This park has improved significantly over the years and now has showers that are frequently maintained. One of the things you have to be aware of is that this park is sandy, so when you are camping, you will probably want to put some kind of rug in front of your tent or RV to minimize the amount of sand that you track in. Don’t think choosing another site will move you away from the sand. It won’t. Another thing you have to be aware of is that in eastern North Carolina, fire ants can be a huge problem. Some of the trails are easy, but the Spanish Moss Trail is quite steep in some places. Also, the Galax trail is almost always flooded during the spring or after a series of rains. There is a lake for swimming and a large picnic shelter. On weekends, it is not unusual for there to be lots of people at the picnic shelters, so you will have to reserve them. The sites have picnic tables and fire pits as well. This is a great park for swimming and boating, but the hiking is limited. If I am not mistaken, the total length of trails is fewer three miles. However, the main attraction is the view over the Neuse River and the new visitor’s center. Even with limited trails, it is still a great park for relaxing.

If you have a chance, definitely check out Goose Creek State Park. My husband, son, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, and myself stayed at the park this past weekend, and we had a wonderful time. We stayed at campsite 11, and we had plenty of room for our two tents, two vehicles, a pup, a toddler, and the supplied picnic table, fire pit, and additional charcoal grill. The one negative about spot 11 is there’s a hiking trail that run directly behind the campsite, so it feels like people are constantly walking through your campsite. Spots 1-10 were definitely a bit smaller, and spots 11-14 are larger. If we were to stay again, I believe we’d try to stay at site 13.

The fishing dock is quite small, but it was fun to fish from with a few people. Be sure to bring bug spray! The worst for me was the biting flies. There is one outhouse-type bathroom near the dock with a spigot and dumpster nearby. There are about 10 steps leading up to the one-person, non-flushing bathroom.

There’s a wood station at the campground that uses the honor system. It’s $5 per bundle. We visited the visitors center in the hopes that they would have live bait for sell, but they sell nothing of the sort (no ice, bait, fishing rods, etc). So bring everything you need other than wood!

Overall, I’d give the campground 4.5/5, and I certainly recommend it! Try to stay in sites 11-14 if possible.

Goose Creek State Park campground is one of the newer state parks in North Carolina. The RV part of the park has a great layout with large sites. The park is very flat with full hookups and a large patio/picnic area. They also have cabins.

We stayed at one of the full hook up RV sites with our Riverside Retro 199FKS and it actually looked small in the site. We had more than enough room.

You are far enough away from Washington, NC that you don't get great cell coverage so, it is almost like going off the grid. I think I had service if I sat outside with my left leg propped up (just kidding). 

Since this park is so new, there are not many trees or vegetation to provide privacy between sites. I think this park will be great once the plants grow in - don't skip for this reason - still go, just know that you won't have a lot of privacy.

If you’ve got one of those incredibly large mobile homes on wheels, then this particular RV ‘oasis’ location just off of I-95 north of Four Oaks may just be the perfect spot for you. With a wide-array (OK, 150+ sites in all) of elongated parking lanes for your parking pleasure, all of the sites come equipped with the typical 30 / 50 amp electrical hook-ups, waste disposal and water connections.  And if you don't have an RV, but want to spend the night, no biggie, as Raleigh Oaks will easily rent you one of their deluxe cabins that come as either a studio or 2BR.

Please note: THERE ARE NO TENT SITES HERE! We found that out the hard way while stopping for the night and had to move onwards to another nearby site instead. 

That said, from what we did manage to see – apart from the massive White House and AMAZING family pool (there’s actually 2 pools on-site) along with spa / jacuzzi, there’s the standard picnic table, fire ring/ BBQ grill, garbage receptacles and even a community BBQ. The hosts are nice and offer pricing by the night, week and month. There’s a hefty amount of amenities to pick and choose from, including a billiards room, fitness center, basketball and volleyball courts, playground, fitness center, horseshoes and even miniature golf.  Spartan clean, new bathroom and shower facilities await you along with laundr-O-mat and complimentary WiFi and cable that come standard.  Due to all of these amenities AND the fact that this property is very well-maintained, this is just 1 of 2 campground resorts in the entirety of NC that has been awarded a perfect 10 for 10 by Sam's

Insider’s tips? Here's a few: (1) Near this RV parking lot, you do have access to Holts Lake and Tucker Lake, the latter which has great beaches and both have decent fishing, Ava Gardner Museum, Bentonville Battlefield for all you Civil War buffs, Nahunta Park Center for the naturalists, Rudy Theaters for those seeking culture and even Smithfield Outlets for the spendthrifts amongst us.; (2) Saturday and Sunday this spot offers up complimentary waffles, coffee and juice; (3) While there is a rotating line-up of food trucks that frequent this place, unless you've got something amazing in your onboard refrigerator, I would highly recommend Southern Frying Pan for some pretty outstanding southern breakfast dishes, or further NE, try out SoDoSoPa, which serves up legendary smoked BBQ pulled pork, chicken and ribs along with southern comfort food like meatloaf with black pepper honey glaze or country fried chicken; and (4) If you need to load up on anything while you are camping around these parts, head south to Barefoot's Country Store & Grill where you can pick up some groceries as well as order out with some amazing sandwiches, burgers, fried chicken, or for that matter, just about anything fried!

Happy Camping!